| The Midnight Beast | |
|---|---|
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | Comedy |
| Years active | 2008–present |
| Website | www.themidnightbeast.com |
| Members | |
| Stefan Abingdon Dru Wakely Ashley Horne |
|
The Midnight Beast, sometimes abbreviated as TMB, is a British comedy music group from London, perhaps most famous for their YouTube cover-parody of the 2009 single TiK ToK by American pop artist Ke$ha.[1] The group currently consists of its three founding members, Stefan Abingdon, Dru Wakely and Ashley Horne.
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Stefan James Donald John Abingdon (born 19 January 1989) is a graduate of The BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology. Abingdon is a multi-instrumentalist, and can be seen playing acoustic and electric guitars,[2][3] keyboards[4] and ukeleles[5] in YouTube videos with his various bands. Prior to the formation of TMB, Abingdon was a member of numerous non-comedic music projects, which spanned a number of genres, including Ink, Killafornia, R.U.Twin, Icarus Burning, Stefan & The Artschool, Trick Fantastic, The Clik Clik, Perfect People, and Chapters, as well as recording songs as a solo act. In 2010, Abingdon recorded Drunk Girls for the soundtrack of British crime drama 4.3.2.1, and in 2011, Abingdon co-wrote and produced the title track for Selena Gomez & the Scene's third studio album When the Sun Goes Down.
Andrew Francis Wakely (born 10 January 1987)[6] was also a musician prior to the formation of TMB, playing drums alongside Abingdon in Icarus Burning, The Clik Clik, and Perfect People. His family life has been involved in many of their songs, especially Daddy. This true story created humour in their songs.
Ashley Neil Horne (born 4 January 1989) is the only member of the group with no known professional musical experience prior to forming TMB, although Horne can be seen playing the bass guitar in concert with the group.[7] Horne was originally pursuing an acting career, and had bit parts in a number of British television series, including Foyle's War, Genie in the House, EastEnders and Doctor Who.[8][9][10][11] He also starred in the West End production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as a child.
The group released a semi-autographical book titled Book at Us Now on 27 October 2011. The book included interviews with the band members, the history of The Midnight Beast, as well as exposition on the groups videos and songs. The group held book signings around the country in a promotion titled the Book at Us Now Tour.[12]
In 2011, it was announced that the band would star in its own, self-titled, sitcom, The Midnight Beast. The show is currently set to be broadcast in 2012 by E4.[13] The series will consist of 6 episodes, and follow fictionalized version of the band members as they attempt to become successful musicians.
The Midnight Beast have a rather large following on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, with over 280,000 subscribers and a combined 40 million views on their YouTube channel alone, as well as over 300,000 Facebook fans as of September 2011. The group's songs often appear on iTunes music charts,[14] and their accompanying music videos routinely reach over 1 million views on YouTube. The group has also had songs reach positions on national music charts in the U.K. and Australia.
The band and their music have achieved high levels of success not only with fans, but critics as well. Music and internet culture critics have often mentioned the band's instant "internet fame",[15] and the transition of that fame into the real world. On Christmas Day 2009, the "TiK ToK" parody was featured on the front page of MTV.com,[16] and the group have made videos in collabaration with BBC Comedy and MTV Rocks.
The group has also garnered praise from artists that they have parodied. Both Ke$ha and Jay Sean have tweeted positive reactions to the group's parody of their respective songs, TiK ToK and Down, with Ke$ha stating "holy. shit. this is better than my version.",[17][18] and Jay Sean posting "Hahha brilliant. Someone should mix this with "pants on the ground"...".[19] Ke$ha would go on to state the she wished the group had directed her own music video.[20]
The group has also attracted minor controversy with its music. In an online post from February 2011, Metro, a British newspaper, raised issue with the lyrics of "Use Ya Head", a sexual education-themed skit made for the Marie Stopes International charity's Have A Larc organization, which promotes safe sex. The paper cited the lines "One up the bum and it’s no harm done" and "One up the bum and you won’t be a mum", stating that it appeared that the group was suggesting anal sex as a birth control method. It also quoted unnamed critics who mentioned that the video failed to point out that anal sex could still lead to the transmission of STDs.[21] The story eventually reached the front page of the paper.[22] The music video for "Pizza in Ibiza" also attracted some mild controversy, with local publications criticizing footage of the band members tossing food into the sea around the island.
| Year | Title | Label | Chart Positions |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | |||
| 2010 | Booty Call EP | Midnight Beast Records AWAL Records |
64 |
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK[23][24][25] | AUS[26] | IRE[27] | |||||||
| 2009 | "TiK ToK Parody" | 90 | 4 | 39 | Non-album single | ||||
| 2010 | "Down Parody" | — | — | — | |||||
| "Ninjas" | — | — | — | ||||||
| "Lez Be Friends" | — | — | — | ||||||
| "Friends For Never" | — | — | — | ||||||
| "Daddy" | — | — | — | Booty Call EP | |||||
| "Booty Call" | 64 | — | — | ||||||
| "Just Another Boy Band" | — | — | — | Non-album single | |||||
| 2011 | "The Dance Routine" | 48 | — | — | |||||
| "Pizza In Ibiza" | — | — | — | "—" denotes a release that did not chart or was not released in that country. | |||||